Feb 5 Dance team wins fourth consecutive championship

The Hofstra dance team won their fourth consecutive National Division I Pom title on Sunday, Jan. 20, at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Over the summer, the team gathered to begin their preparation. Then it was off to the races, practicing multiple times a week for hours each day during the fall semester. Additionally, the team gathered for 6 a.m. workouts at least once a week.

The toughest part of the stretch arrived when intersession hit. No classes, no distractions, just the team working late into. the night in order to perfect their routine. The 20 days leading up to Nationals were crucial to the team’s success. They arrived at the studio around 9 a.m. and did not leave until they felt they had achieved their goals for the day.

Then they took off for Florida, where hundreds of dancers around the country arrived hoping to bring home the title. Hofstra became eager when they found out they made it to the final day of competition. Then they patiently awaited to see if their name would be announced last.

“It is an indescribable feeling. It is months of hard work finally paying off. When you hear your name called and you are holding your teammates hands, it is the greatest feeling I have ever experienced,” said Lili Nash, captain of the team and a junior business management major.

Hofstra has entered the Division I Pom category four years in a row, and they have won every year that they have competed in this category.

Overall, this is the seventh championship the program has been nationally ranked for in over two decades.

“What made this even crazier is the fact that we have never lost in this division, and it is really cool to accomplish something not many schools have done,” Nash said.